Creating a Monster

Do you want to know what I love about creating things? It all starts with as idea, everything in this world began with an idea, simple or complicated that's what it comes down to.  Someone had to get the idea to grab two sticks and somehow weave fibers to make clothing, someone even had to get the idea to pull on the "pink dangley thing" under a cow and drink whatever came out of it...hmmm. 

A couple weeks ago I went to the fabric store called Quilts ETC in Sandy, Utah. First I had to go to get more fabric for my quilt that I kind of screwed up on  and secondly they were having an awesome sale! (**good tip, make sure to stay on your favorite fabric/yarn/quilt/whatever stores email list, they will send you info on sales and classes and thats awesome!)  I saw a little quilt that had this little monster made of something or other appliqued to the plain front and that was it.  I loved the idea but really wanted it to be something of my own so the other day at school I drew this...

It's weird but I always put hearts in my artwork and so I figured this shouldn't be any different, and of course I wanted to make him out of felt because I just love working with felt.  I purchased 1 1/4 yards of the fabric for the front, which is an olive green and the same amount for the back piece of fabric which is an off white color with brown polka dots.

Here's the layout of it while i was planning on where stuff was going and changing a few things from my original idea.

When working with a basic piece of fabric and the thinner felt that I use, its great to these smaller pins on hand, I never really use them when I'm sewing the felt onto my hats but when it's a bigger project like this, and I don't want anything to move around I will bust these out.

This is as far as I have gotten as of a half hour ago, I use a cushion from our couch (a pillow works well too) to put underneath the work as to avoid stabbing yourself with the needle or, heaven forbid, sewing your project to your school scrubs...hmmm.

My goal is to have this done before the weekend so I can take this down to my mama bear (in Price) and she can help me with putting the back on.  I love that I can use my mom as a reference, she seems to know everything about crafting and is always willing to help me.  I've noticed every sort of craft store that I have gone into lately actually has "beginner's nights" where you can go in and those really experienced can help you out with anything.  If you have any questions on the places that I go to get materials such as fabric or yarn or what some of my favorite places are in the Salt Lake Valley please email me at asay.stephanie@gmail.com or befriend me on facebooooook!

Steph

A Day Off

Because I go to school from Tuesday to Saturday I'm always a day off, Sunday=Saturday and Monday=Sunday.  Unforutunately the rest of the world is still a day on and wandering around on Mondays can be a little odd.  I actually started feeling sick on Friday, Saturday at school was just downright miserable and Sunday hubby took care of me while i slept on the couch pretty much all day. Today I am feeling better and was able to run some errands that I was rather excited about. 
About two weeks ago Ky and I stumbled upon two really great places, the first being the Blue Plate Diner on 2100 and 2100 in Sugarhouse (Utah) and the second being the awesome art store right next door called Signed and Numbered.  I'm huge into art and fell in love with this place as soon as I walked in. What makes this place so cool is a few things, all of their art is made by local artists (I love buying local), you can actually get the artwork custom framed at the same place, and they used recycled wood to make the frames! I could have bought every single piece in that store but one really caught my attention...

I've always loved Alice in Wonderland, especially the Disney version.  This artwork is of Tweedledum and Tweedledee telling the story of The Walrus and The Carpenter with the Baby Oysters saying "Feed"!? It's weird and confusing but I love it, just in case you don't know what I'm talking about....

Once we actually have a house of our own I really want to go back to Signed and Numbered and get some more pieces to really jazz things up a bit.

I also wanted to stop by a yarn store that I actually haven't visited in a long time and it's really close to our house, Blazing Needles is the name and it's in a house right by 1300 S and 1100 East.  I just stopped by for funzies and to see if they had any new clothes patterns I wanted to give a shot, I also have really wanted to try out some hand dyed yarn out with my baby hats.  When yarn is hand dyed is has such richer colors and can make for a really special piece.  While there I happened upon a cute little pattern for an elephant stuffed animal, I ADORE elephants and thought it would be something perfect to try for my first stuffed animal project.

hand dyed wool yarn..LOVE!

I have this terrible habit of piling on projects when I already have a billion but I just can't help myself!! You can never have too many projects, just make sure you get them done eventually or your significant other may eventually have something to hold against you when they want something for themself :)
Oh and one more thing we purchased this weekend...

That my friend is a abnormally large container of Cheese Balls from Target...22 Servings to be exact, too many cheese balls for only two you say?  I beg to differ.

Thanks for reading Button...Button, Let's be friends!! if you haven't already, follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002195066795 (thats my profile).  I mostly post updates for my blogs there and anything else that's going on with my school, specials that are happening with Ladybug&Babybird, and links to my etsy page. Have a great Monday!

Steph

Jazzing Things Up

I've never been really big on yard work, when I was younger I remember summers of having to pick up sticky apricots from between blades of grass...there were a lot of apricots.  I would get tired and bored and eventually just end up going and laying under the swamp cooler in the hallway. I guess things are different when it's your own house (well at lease house by renting agreement) because all I want to do now that the grass is green is make our yard the cutest on the street.  Ky and I live in an older house on a cute little street in Sugarhouse, there are two little strips of grass in the front yard and a flower bed (which I have yet to get my hands on) and the most adorable little back yard you have ever seen.  We moved into this house on New Years Eve and since then the backyard has been pretty much covered with snow until one day I looked into the backyard and realized how great it could be. 

A couple summers ago my parents built themselves some grow boxes and I absolutely loved the idea, I love veggies and fruits and anything that doesn't require me to cook. I can do a lot of things, but cooking is not one of them. So I decided I wanted a grow box of my very own, and Kyle was nice enough to agree to make me one.  Off to Home Depot we went...

Why yes, that is a picture of me trying to drive our cart with a large plank of wood hanging out of it, and yes I did almost hit several people while navigating through the store, did I think to maybe find a more adequate lumber cart?...of course not.
I picked out the wood that I wanted as well as seeds (jalepenos, squash, peas, and cucumbers), potting soil, and spray paint...

I couldn't just leave my grow box plain and boring, especially not after seeing this color of spray paint...everything a girl could hope for? but of course.

We got everything back to the house and the real work began, there was a lot of overgrown in the two flower beds lining the fence that had to be cleared out, and of course there were the rose bushes..Roses aren't really my favorite flower and pruning these eight foot tall bad boys really didn't give them much more hope in my book. While clearing things away we found some great small decorative iron fences that reminded me of something that would be in an old pet cemetary, we were able to put those around the rose bushes. The far right back corner of the yard kind of worked out perfectly for our grow box and the blue color looks pretty awesome.  We added a few extra touches, like a door we found in the garage and a large wood frame that we painted and attached to the fence. Because we are renting we can't do everything that I would love to do to that backyard (like totally remove those darn rose bushes) but we did what we could and I'm happy with it, here is the before and after...



There are still a lot of things I would like to do with it, like plant some more flowers and of course get my grow box started, I have this jazzy idea of just using old junk as flower pots and putting is all over the front and back yard, I also have this great idea that involves old window screens, but I guess you will just have to find out :) Promise to keep you updated!

Steph

ladybug&babybird

Awhile ago I set a goal for myself, to learn how to knit whether I liked it or not. I won't lie I'm terrible at crocheting and don't really like to do it so when I came to my mom about knitting there was little to no faith.  We started working with washrags ( which I would suggest for anyone starting out with knitting because they are so simple and help you work on your stitches). Eventually we worked up to hats, blankets, and clothing and it's like a whole new world opened up.  I adore knitting and have come to find that baby knits are my absolute favorite, I also happened upon the wonderful world of felt and discovered how amazing they both went together. 

ladybug&babybird has been my brain child ever since I started knitting, it's my own little knitting/crafting business. Because I love knitting so much and love what the final product is I felt like bringing it to those who wanted some originality in their lives would totally make it worth while. It's actually Ky (hubby) that really pushes me to get my stuff out there and he was even the one that inspired the name.  Ladybug, and Babybird are actually both nicknames that he has for me (aww) and they both make me think of a little girl (ladybug) and a little boy (babybird).  I have a product blog (you can actually click the link to it in the sidebar) that has some of my product on there but to be honest I'm more for bringing my product to the public with craft fairs.  We did a few over Christmas just to test out the "scene" and it was an awesome experience. Don't be discouraged! I still take orders via email ;)

I wanted to kind of show you my process, how I fill orders and even how I came up with my packaging.  It all starts with a beautiful ball of yarn, some rounds, and an idea...

What is so great about hand made hats is that everything is made to order, color, size, embellishments are all something that can be customized.  For this specific order I needed to make four hats, two boys and two girls.

A lot of the hats that I do come with the felt sewn on them because of how original it makes the item, I can honestly say that not one hat is the same because I cut the felt freehand and often forget how I made the previous character :)  It really helps to lay the hats out with what felt I want on them, that way I'm not dissapointed when I sew them on and have to start over again (nothing I hate more than having to unpick stitches!). Here are the before and afters...


I love making new characters and trying new things, these are three new ones I just made up tonight.

 I would have to say that hats are my most favorite things to make because they are so easy and look so cute on little ones.  Plus they need to be kept warm, even in spring and fall.

After I make my hats I package them up...pardon my french but I am a packaging whore, so when it came to whatever it was I was going to put my product in I knew it needed to be original and really keep to what my theme is.  I also wanted something simple and for some odd reason I really wanted it to involve brown paper bags.  I love kraft brown (the color of brown paper bags, silly) and so it only made sense to use them.  Kyle was kind enough to help me with this idea and even thought of using the stamp on the corner that we used on our wedding invitations and to top it all of using the black clothespins from our wedding as well.

I love how this looks and makes for an awesome way for those purchasing to not have to rewrap if they are gifting the item.  I usually attach my business card with the clothespin (which is made from kraft brown paper as well) that way they have my info just in case they would like to contact me for another order.

If you have any questions or would like to place an order of any kind please email me at asay.stephanie@gmail.com or just become a follower and comment me.  Realizing summer is just around the corner it's always nice to have something like this on hand just in case a baby shower pops up.  I will keep you informed of any upcoming fairs or shows that we might have a booth at so you can come and check us out!

Steph

Hello Old Friend

While cleaning our bedroom the other day I happened upon a box that I have random stuff in and decided to go through it.  I figured that most of the stuff was in there and then I found something I had totally fogotton about!

This is my Minolta film camera that I bought off of ebay a few years ago with my first paycheck, it was $120 and came with everything my little heart could desire.  Two other lenses, some macro add ons and so on, the film fairy seems to have left two reels of black and white film (which I think came from me when I was in a photography class in college).  Have you ever really loved something, forgot you had it, found it, then remembered how much you loved it?...ya that just happened to this guy.  I won't lie I'm a little foggy with fully manual cameras especially ones that don't seem to come with an owners manual but I'm super excited to remind myself how to do so.
Photography is a great way to express yourself, and nothing is better than an awesome photo. What they say is true, "a picture is worth a thousand words".  Catching those moments or being able to relay an entire scenario within a single photograph is artwork within itself.  Whether it be something you work for years perfecting or even just a snapshot you've taken of someone you love, remember to cherish those photos.


My favorite thing to do with my pictures is either getting them printed off in singles and making photo albums from those (since I am not so much for the scrapbooking) or going onto http://www.shutterfly.com/ and actually have them make a photo album for me.  For a wedding present to Kyle  I took all of our pictures of our prewedding life and make a cute little photo album for them.

I bought a really simple photo album from walmart and hot
glued buttons and the felt on to add some personal touch

Shutterfly is a great photo website to go to because they offer really great pricing for an awesome product, After we went on our honeymoon we actually make a huge photobook with all of our photos, we had some photos from Halloween too that we were able to make into a cute little album as well...

YES we were Tinkerbell and Rufio for Halloween!

Remember to take pictures of everything! Even the smallest moments can be the most important especially when it comes to family and friends.  Most of the pictures I have are of me and kyle with my arm clearly outstretched to take the photo and you cant really see what is behind us but I love each and every one of them and will eventually remember where we were and what it was behind us. Get out there and take those photos and hey if you take something that is totally awesome send it to me at asay.stephanie@gmail.com and I will make sure to put it on a post!


Happy Shooting
Steph

Just Keep Sewing...

If you would have told me when I was younger that I would love to do what I love to do now there is no way I would ever believe you.  I never had the patience to learn how to work with yarn or to sit down and sew.  Now I live for the moments when I can sit down and continue working on my latest project. This Christmas was the hubby's (Kyle) and mine first Christmas together, I'm kind of hate a adore surprises so to avoid the anxiety of it all I decided I wanted a sewing machine.  Ky surprised me with this awesome vintage looking Singer that I love and man is that thing a beast! I'm pretty sure I could sew through 10 layered pieces of denim and my finger and that sucker would keep going.  I use the machine mostly to make booties when one day about a month ago I decided I wanted to make a quilt for our bed. I've made a few quilts before but this is by far the biggest. My mother, sister, nephew and I went quilt store/knitting store hopping and I found just what I was looking for.  The three main colors are a turquoise/aqua color and a vintage red and well as a great off-white color to compliment the whole thing.




ok so I was going to make some sassy comment about how
crappy my image was going to look because I took it
with my blackberry, but it doesn't look half bad,
take that!

I'm using a pattern from the book "Time Out For Quilts" which is an Atkinson Designs book, the exact name of the pattern is Brick and Stone.  The pattern itself looks a whole lot more complicated but when you break it down to squares it's super simple!

***Tip Time: I have a minor obsession with sticky notes and use them to follow along with any pattern I am using, this keeps me in track so I don't skip any steps.


Heads up, mistakes happen...I actually cut some of my material wrong and had to go back to the quilt store and buy more, hey it happens! Just make sure not to put off buying more material for too long especially if it's a specialty or seasonal material as it might not be there when you go. There is nothing worse than having to readjust your whole project because of some sort of procrastination.

When you are working with a pattern where you have to keep to colors in a certain order, make sure you remember that order! Once again you can use those stickies or just write it down somewhere.  The book  I am using actually has a spot where you can stick small scraps of your material in their appropriate numbered spots...GENIUS! 
So far I have 32 squares done and I'm working on the next step, I have a list of my goals on my idea line for March which I'm hoping to complete but we will see what happens :).  Goals are awesome to keep and help me out tons but keep in mind you can always adjust those goals, don't get discouraged!  I will keep you updated on this quilt as I keep a move on it.  I have this problem where I love just adding new projects when I already have like a bajilllion, that's right I added another one today but you will just have to wait and see what it is!!


Steph

Being Eaten by the Organization Monster

Hello my little bloggins...(yes that's right I have adopted an adorable little nickname for you all)

I have been a busy little bee today which has included applying lash extentions for three hours (which looked bomb diggity) and coming home to a messy little house that I keep procrastinating doing the deep cleaning it truely deserves.  I feel like with anything in my life I completely fall apart when it is not organized.  With school I need to retain all of my receipts as well as protocals, all the things I need for my appointments, books for theory, books on product, tracking sheets and so on. With my home sweet home I need to keep the dishes cleaned (seeing as we have no dishwasher), have the bills in order, pay the bills, do the laundry, sort the laundry and clean everything else.  Now with my personal craft business and just my crafting in general if my small space is not organized I have no way to function.  Does anyone else feel like this? Well here are some ideas that I use and really help me out, I've focused mainly on the crafting section but I might touch on some other things as well.

My adorable little desk was actually purchased from a thrift store and will one day get a fresh coat of paint to jazz it up a bit (i will let you know when that happens) p.s. I also hate the knobs on it so I really want to pick some new ones up from Anthropologie, you should really check out their home goods, so so cute. To the left I have a part of a filing cabinet also from a thrift store, inside of that is where I keep my really good felt that I use to make baby booties and fat quarters of material.  The top drawer of the desk contains pens, scissors, and sewing machine instructions, basically anything that I need to have right when i need to have it and I would rather not go looking for it.  In the other drawers I have bags of buttons, needles and thread and books for both sewing and knitting.  It's really a great idea to have a notepad or sticky notes handy, I have the greatest pack of ellie pooh paper (paper made from actual elephant pooh) it works awesome for writing small notes for what I need to do or where I might be in my current craft.

I have a small antique card table that I use for cutting material and for putting stuff on in general, my crafting room is actually in our guest room so behing the table is our guest bed that is also good for placing things on.  A few random things that I do and have that really help are the large aluminum bucket I have to put all my balls of yarn in, I also have a large tote that I use to carry my knitting gear and make it mobile.  I also have a nike shoe box where I keep my material scraps just in case I could use them for later maybe to make another quilt or something.  I think the best thing I have though is the small whicker basket I have given the snazzy name of "the project bin".  This is where I keep my knitting projects, maybe ones I have taken a break on or even ones that I am planning on doing along with the color of yarn I'm going to do them in.

Another little something I have is my idea line, I've heard all sorts of variations of this idea and they all are great, I decided to use the yarn and clothespins because it fits my style and it's what I have on hand.  On here I keep the orders that I need to fill, my monthly project goals and new project ideas, as well as a cute little picture of my hubby because, well he funds this whole operation with a smile.  Any sort of organization helps to clear my mind and get down to business so I'm not thinking the entire time that I need to clean something.  Keeping a neat little craft corner is step one in taming that beast!

Getting Started...

Bloggy, Mcbloggerson.. Allow me to introduce myself.


My name is Stephanie and I'm a twenty something, happily married, fulltime student, painting, sewing, knitting junky who highly enjoys indie music that makes no sense, traveling, anything older that 30 years and skin...woah woah don't judge creeper I'm going to school to be an aesthetician. 
So why the blog you ask? 
Well I do go to school for fourty hours a week Tuesday thru Saturday and often get home with a small amount of time to spend with my boy, do the laundry, take a little nappy, study for tests, and do the things that are keeping me sane like knitting, and anything crafty you can fill in the blank with. I guess I thought to myself this past week while in a business class for school there has to be more like me out there, those who secretly wish their crafting hobbies will miraculously start paying the bills or even just start paying for themselves.
So here goes nothing, maybe someone will just happen upon the blog of a silly little girl and get a kick out of it or maybe we can actually relate to eachother and give eachother inspiration, who knows where this will go but for right now I'm digging it...and I'm all about rolling with the punches as of late.


Here's the dealeoo, I'm super stoked about my latest project I completed and I thought it should be shared with the faceless intenet public, and hey why not kick this off on a positive note? I've been working on this jacket for a couple months now, given motivation and lack of yarn to finish, today was the day that I loaded up the Netflix and actually finished the sucker.  Here's the specs, I used Berroco Vintage yarn in a rusty red color, if you would like to know the color for sure I can definately look it up. The pattern came from the book "Easy Baby Knits" by Claire Montgomerie (which I absolutely adore btw). The size I made was for a 1-2 year old because I wanted the little kiddo to be walking so the entire jacket can be shown off while they are walking around.  I also decided to do it in a somewhat gender nutural color so that it can be for a boy or a girl (what can I say I'm a planner).

The pattern for this jacket is super simple but looks
so detailed I just adore it!

I love little details and especially texture for
things for babies, it really works well for
their hand eye coordination.

I really loved doing this jacket and have plans to make a few more just for friends and such because it is such a keepsake jacket. 


I would really love to know what you think about this blog, anything you want to know or even want me to write about or review I would love to. I'm really looking forward to just writing about the things i love and in the next couple of posts I will be talking about the quilt I am working on as well as being the proud owner of a cute little crafting room and how I organize and keep the clutter from making me go insane.  I might even pull some random posts about skin care and makeup as well as traveling, gardening and well pretty much anything that comes to mind!

I actually cut the buttons from one of my
 own jackets, sometimes I can't find the
exact buttons I'm looking forso I learn
 to compromise.